Fiio X3 portable high resolution player

Anyone using a 64gb card in their X3? I don't do play lists, just complete albums in folders and am thinking about swapping to a bigger card from my current 32gb .

 

Actually I have three! Blame it on lossless express!
The main thing (and I can't emphasize it enough) the card needs to be Class 10 AND formatted using the formatting tool in your X3 to FAT 32 on the 'cog' menu before adding program via the USB lead from the player to your PC or Laptop. I'd stick with main brands like Sandisk and Samsung as they are are reputable with good prices on Amazon and the like

 

Thanks. I do use class 10 Sandisk at the moment so will stay with that for a bigger card. I'm waiting for the day when we can get a good dap that can hold 500gb. Could get about half my cd collection into a mobile format. I find I'm far more adventurous in searching out semi forgotten music when I'm out walking were as I tend to get into a rut at home playing the same music over and over.

 

Has anyone heard the X3 mark II yet? Any links yet to SQ reviews?

 

Also buy from a reputable dealer. There are fakes around. They're usually 4GB microcards "reprocessed" so that they look like and read as a 64 or 128GB card, until you approach the 4GB mark, then you just get empty files. Fortunately I learned my lesson with a "bargain priced" thumb drive, and was only out $10. When I mentioned this on another forum, I heard how widespread the practice is.

 

Lots here:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/fiio-x3-2nd-gen-ultraportable-hi-res-dap/reviews

 

Thanks, that link is perfect!

 

The FiiO threads at head-fi.org are a good way to keep up to date on developments. (Tho as you might expect, they often veer off into headphones and headphone amps quite often. And the same "HiRez arguments" occasionally pop up there too.) People from FiiO post and respond to the threads fairly often.

I was merely "pleased" with my first-generation X3 at first, but FiiO continually does firmware updates, including beta versions (that can only be discussed in threads dedicated the beta firmware). With the latest firmware, my being "pleased with" now is closer to being "seduced by". But I'll inevitably be getting a 2nd-gen X3 after the "it's too new to discount" era is over.

 

Another vote for the info at Head-Fi. Occasionally, you'll need to sort the wheat from the chaff but it's mostly pretty reliable.

I have the First gen X3 and am very happy with it and see no need to upgrade for now.

Best Wishes,
David

 

I've been using the first gen X3 for the past couple of months. I had a few Amazon gift cards burning a hole in my pocket so I ended up ordering the 2nd gen yesterday.

 

I have been using one for about a week. The only way I've used it is as a source. For that, it has been fantastic.

 

Any other updates? considering an x3 as my first ever dap! Haven't had a portable player since my cassette Walkman.

 

I'm liking my x3 2nd gen quite a bit. As an old ipod classic lover the UI really appeals to me. I use mostly ALAC and AAC 320 for my listening pleasure as I don't intend to repurchase my favorite music in hi-res.

 

I bought one from Gumtree the other day and so far i really like it. Up til now i've had the clip+ which has been really great.
So i'm currently getting FLAC versions of my CDs.
I am totally un-technical with these things, so my silly question is, can you give me an example of using the DAC in the player? I'm unsure what it's supposed to do? In the reviews of the player the DAC gets mentioned a lot. I know what the letters stand for i just don't know how it's used and why its so good?
Is it something to do with plugging in a headphone amp?
thanks.

 

I've just ordered a FiiO X3 2nd generation player from Amazon. I also got a SanDisk 128GB memory card, and a leather case. After applying a $100 gift card I had, the entire bundle cost $155 + free Prime shipping.

I'm looking forward to this being an upgrade from my Sansa e260 4GB MP3 player, which has served me extremely well over the last 9+ years, and has been an amazing value for the $75 or so I paid for it back in 2006.

But the FiiO is going to be much more versatile (44.1/16 FLAC! ... DSD! ... 192/24 FLAC!), and promises to have much higher-quality sound.

I'm excited about filling the FiiO with a variety of lossless FLACs, but will preserve a section for MP3s because I can now load a tremendous variety with a memory card this large. I think my 4GB Sansa holds about 45-50 albums worth of 256kbps MP3s, so I could stuff 10x that many albums into about 33% of the memory card, then load the rest of the space (about 80GB) with dozens of albums consisting of FLAC files.

I'm going to continue using my "old-fashioned" Sennheiser MX581 earbuds ($28 in 2012), which hopefully will continue to work for years to come, since my ears are shaped weird and none of those modern silicone multi-sized earbuds stay in my ears (I've tried several brands, of varying price points, but they always slide out within moments of inserting them in).

The FiiO is larger than my Sansa, by about 1 inch in height and width, which is a bummer. I hope it will still easily slip into my shirt pocket, and perhaps it will still fit in the top outer pocket of my backpack during travel/work.

Craig.

 

Quick question (maybe the manual answers it, but I'm hoping to get some conversation going on this thread):

Is the default EQ setting on this FiiO X3 a "flat" or "natural" one? Or is it pre-jacked by default and we have to go in and flatten it out for ourselves?

My Sansa e260 was jacked - some sort of smiley-face curve, probably - and the first thing I had to do was choose a flat/natural option instead, then just bump up the bass a notch or two to compensate for my apparently weird ear shape for holding earbuds (if I push and hold in the earbuds with my fingers to create a seal, bass response is great, but letting them rest on my ears unseals them and bass response it too low unless I goose it a tad in the EQ).

I hope the FiiO offers similar flexiblity, and I also hope since they seem to be catering more to audiophiles, that out-of-the-box experience will be "flat" and then we can make manual adjustments from there.

Craig.

 

Haven't heard the X3 2nd gen, so I don't have an answer for you, but here's the story from my X3 1st gen.

The X3 originally did not have an equalizer, only bass and treble controls. The default sound changed with every firmware update. I watched the FiiO threads on Head Fi pretty closely, and people had all sorts of disagreements about which firmware had the best default sound. By the time the equalizer was made available for the 1st gen, I felt the default sound was biased toward the bass. It was easy to correct that with the equalizer and save the resulting curve. I called mine "Flat" (I know, how creative).

Whether or not you like the 2nd gen default sound will of course depend on the music you listen to, the resolution of your earbuds, and your own personal preferences. Play around with it, and when you get an EQ setting you like, save it so you can reload it later. I have several saved curves that I change depending on what I'm listening to.

 

Thanks for the reply and suggestions. I think I have a smaller memory card, in an older smartphone I no longer use. I'll probably take that out and download the latest firmware onto it, so I can update the FiiO to the latest firmware before I start playing around with it.

Craig.

 

Is there a way to view the "kbps" ("kilobits per second" ... I think) of MP3s on this X3 2nd gen player? For example, I downloaded the MP3s for the new Emitt Rhodes album, and put them directly on my X3 2nd gen player, but the info display only ever shows "MP3 44.1kHz/16bit" for every single MP3 that it plays (not just the Emitt Rhodes MP3s).

 

I've noticed the same thing on my X1 and X3-gen1. I don't recall anyone over at Head-Fi ever commenting on it, so FiiO probably never thought about it. The FiiO players were originally aimed at the HiRez market.

 

Can anyone confirm if the X3 Gen 1 will work with 200gb memory cards?

 

I would really like to know this as well.

 

497 pages?? That's like reading a book!!!

 

I emailed Fiio email support and got this answer....

Good to go, it seems!

 

Awesome!

Thanks!